Friday 20 February 2015

Scenes from half term


I'd spent the weeks leading up to the holiday battling with work stress, some low-level illness and general exhaustion, so I am very glad to have had some time to relax and regroup. Whenever I know I'll be spending a lot of time at home, like this week, I hit the discount flowers buckets in Aldi or Tesco and fill the house with blooms. Irises, tulips, daffodils: this week, every room had a jar or vase stuffed with flowers, and it's worked a treat to combat the end-of-winter blues.


On Sunday we drove to Cromford, in Derbyshire, for a day out. A walk along the canal, a stroll around the town and finally a visit to the beautiful Scarthin Books to hear an author talk. It was a lovely way to spend a misty and cold day, with vegan cake in the cafe at the bookshop and a really interesting talk by author and anarchist academic Matthew Wilson. I don't often mention Thomas's work here, so for those who don't know, he's a PhD student researching how social media and online networks provide opportunities for radical protest groups to organise themselves in a non-hierarchical way. Anyway, Thomas knows Matt through work and even I, as someone who is quite disconnected from organised forms of activism now, found his talk and the discussion it provoked fascinating. 


This week was also a week of parcels: I sent two clothes swap parcels, a craft swap package, a couple of gifts for my Pay It Forward people and quite a few ASOS returns. But I also received exciting post in return, in the shape of these amazing hand-crocheted collars from Elise! How cute is the little vintage button on the pink one? I can't wait to wear them. Later in the week, I received my #DICraft Swap parcel from Gemma, which was weird because she was me gift-giver for Char's Christmas blogger swap, too. Luckily, she always chooses gifts wisely so I was happy to see she'd sent to me again.
Finally, we ended the week with a couple of days away at Walton Hall in Warwickshire, after I found a super-cheap online deal. The hotel was extremely swish, so much so that I was worried we were lowering the tone somewhat. A 3am fire alarm wasn't the ideal addition to our mini-break, but luckily we were able to go back to bed pretty quickly. I'd really recommend The Hotel Collection chain: they often have amazing deals and their hotels, while not all quite as fancy as Walton Hall, are reliably nice and friendly (and no, this isn't sponsored, I just like recognising good service when I see it).

Now I'm heading into the weekend with a stack of sewing to do, a Ryan Adams gig to look forward to tomorrow, a book to bury my head in, and a determination not to think about work until Sunday night.

16 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fab week! Love having flowers in the house, but must admit have never had some in every room - such a nice idea!

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    1. My tip is to buy one big bouquet and split the blooms up, sometimes even just one individual stem in a vase looks lovely.

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  2. Those irises are beautiful! They are one of my favourite flowers and that purple is such a deep dairy milk kid of colour. Flowers always make me smile. You sound like you've had a lovely half term. I admit that I haven't managed to not think about work!
    Kate xx

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    1. Yeah, I haven't entirely managed it if I'm honest, but I've done my best!

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  3. It sounds like you've had a good break and a great week! We love Cromford, it's not far from us and we love Scarthin Books! So much temptation to resist though! We've not managed to sample the cafe there though - it's always full, there is never room for us when we are there!

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    1. The cafe was packed when we arrived but we managed to sneak in and grab a table at around half 2 once the lunch rush quietened down. It was nice to see a bookshop so busy though.

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  4. That hotel looks lovely and what amazing collars you received- I love them, especially the green one. That book shop sounds super and a great opportunity for Thomas to meet a colleague!
    xx

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  5. Yay glad you like them! Sounds like a good week off, lots of exploring! :)

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  6. I always feel self conscious in swish hotels too :-) And 'm going to see Ryan Adams on Tues. in Edinburgh! Second time seeing him in under a year, can't wait :-)

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  7. Thomas's PHD sounds absolutely fascinating, what an interesting subject! It's always great to hear people talk about a subject they're well versed in, especially if they're passionate, it makes for great conversation :)

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    1. It is interesting - although not gonna lie, some of it is way above my head! I'm meant to be proof-reading his thesis and quite scared that I won't understand a word.

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  8. I hit up the reduced Valentine's Day bouquets last week. Bargained myself up a treat! The Hotel Collection ARE brilliant. Unfortunately we can rarely use them at work because they tend to be on the small side but I need to see if I can take advantage of any agent's rates...

    I really want to go on days out and random Sunday drives and all the stuff that couples do, but doing it on your own....I know that I can but there is a sense of what is the point?!

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    1. I'll go on days out with you! When I was single (for ten long years, so I had LOTS of practice!) I ended up going on mini-breaks and day trips on my own because otherwise I would have lived a very sad life waiting for my friends to be free. It was always a lot of fun but not gonna lie, it's more fun with someone!

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  9. Aww, love the flowers - I always try to make sure I have some flowers in as well if I'm home for the weekend. I'm planning to grow some more this year at the allotment.

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  10. Ah you made it to Scarthin Books, it's lovely there isn't it! And the cafe's ace too.

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